Short Research Projects
Aligned to W.4.7 — Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.
What this lesson teaches
A research project starts with a question you want to answer. You look at different sources to learn about parts of your topic, then put what you found together. Even a short project can teach you a lot when you stay focused on your question.
Worked examples
Example 1
To learn about penguins, a student asks 'How do penguins stay warm?' then reads two books and one website, and writes a short report that answers just that question.
Example 2
To learn about earthquakes, a student asks 'Why do some buildings survive?' — a question narrow enough to actually answer.
Example 3
A question that is too big cannot be finished. 'Tell me about space' has no ending; 'why is Mars red?' does.
Practice questions
- Write a good research question about an animal or place you find interesting.
- Name two kinds of sources you could use to answer a research question.
- Explain why it helps to look at more than one source about a topic.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Proyectos de Investigación Cortos
Un proyecto de investigación comienza con una pregunta que quieres responder. Miras distintas fuentes para aprender sobre partes de tu tema, y luego juntas lo que encontraste. Hasta un proyecto corto te puede enseñar mucho cuando te mantienes enfocado en tu pregunta.
Ejemplo 1: Para aprender sobre los pingüinos, un estudiante pregunta '¿Cómo se mantienen calientes los pingüinos?' luego lee dos libros y un sitio web, y escribe un reporte corto que responde solo esa pregunta.
Ejemplo 2: Para aprender sobre terremotos, un estudiante pregunta '¿Por qué algunos edificios sobreviven?' — una pregunta lo bastante estrecha para responderla de verdad.
Ejemplo 3: Una pregunta demasiado grande no se puede terminar. 'Cuéntame del espacio' no tiene final; '¿por qué Marte es rojo?' sí.
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